Turing Point: The Battle of Vienna 1683
This battle was a reaction by the Holy League, consisting of forces from Austria, under Leopold I who ruled from 1657 to 1705, Poland, Germany, Saxony, Bavaria, Baden, Franconia, Swabia and supported by Pope Leo XI, to the threat of invasion by the Ottoman army. Vienna had long been a target city of capture for the Ottomans as it controlled the Danube river, was a gateway into western Europe, and would provide a strong headquarters for further invasion into the continent. The Holy League centered itself around Jan III Sobieski, the King of Poland, and his enormous cavalry force of 20,000 troops and quickly banded together in a battle not only for the preservation of Vienna and prevention of a Turkish invasion but for the preservation of Christian faith as the dominant religion of Europe. After a decisive victory on the 12th of September, 1683, the Hapsburgs decided to chase the Ottomans out of Austria and even out of the Balkan states that they had conquered. Prince Eugene of Savoy, "the savior of Christendom," gathered an army which included Protestants and Catholics from as far away as Scotland, and repeatedly pushed the Ottomans back for 19 years until 1702. At the end of this campaign the Hapsburg dynasty had decisively shifted the balance of central European power and now had a dynasty that ruled from a little north of Prague to down past Budapest to the border of modern day Hungary.
Describing the loot that the Holy League gained from winning the battle, King Sobieski stated in a leter to his wife: "Ours are treasures unheard of ... tents, sheep, cattle and no small number of camels ... it is victory as nobody ever knew of, the enemy now completely ruined, everything lost for them. They must run for their sheer lives ... Commander Starhemberg hugged and kissed me and called me his savior." This quote also shows how reveared Sobieski was for his Christian victory against the heathen Ottoman Turks.
The Habsburg dynasty post Battle of Vienna and close to the end of Prince Eugene of Savoy's conqeust against the Ottomans in the Balkans.
Turning point:War of Austrian Succession 1740-1748
The war began due to the fact that Maria Theresa, daughter of Austrian king and Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI who ruled from 1711 to 1740, wasn't able to succeed the Habsburg thrown due to Salic law which prevented royal inheritance by a woman. However, Prussia and France presented the Salic law in an attempted to challenge the Habsburg dynasty, and then became allied with the electorate of Bavaria. Austria allined itself with Great Britian and the Dutch republic as an addition to the kingdom of Sardinia and Saxony.In 1713 the house of Habsburg created the Pragmatic Sanction which was a legal attempt to assure that Maria Theresa would inherit the Austrian thrown. Then in 1740 Fredick II challenged the Pragmatic Sanction by invading Silesia, now in modern day Poland. The war ended with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, Maria Theresa survived the war and succeeded the thrown to the Hubsburg monarchy, while Austria sacrificed the territory of Silesia to Prussia.
Turing Point: The Battle of Vienna 1683
This battle was a reaction by the Holy League, consisting of forces from Austria, under Leopold I who ruled from 1657 to 1705, Poland, Germany, Saxony, Bavaria, Baden, Franconia, Swabia and supported by Pope Leo XI, to the threat of invasion by the Ottoman army. Vienna had long been a target city of capture for the Ottomans as it controlled the Danube river, was a gateway into western Europe, and would provide a strong headquarters for further invasion into the continent. The Holy League centered itself around Jan III Sobieski, the King of Poland, and his enormous cavalry force of 20,000 troops and quickly banded together in a battle not only for the preservation of Vienna and prevention of a Turkish invasion but for the preservation of Christian faith as the dominant religion of Europe. After a decisive victory on the 12th of September, 1683, the Hapsburgs decided to chase the Ottomans out of Austria and even out of the Balkan states that they had conquered. Prince Eugene of Savoy, "the savior of Christendom," gathered an army which included Protestants and Catholics from as far away as Scotland, and repeatedly pushed the Ottomans back for 19 years until 1702. At the end of this campaign the Hapsburg dynasty had decisively shifted the balance of central European power and now had a dynasty that ruled from a little north of Prague to down past Budapest to the border of modern day Hungary.
Describing the loot that the Holy League gained from winning the battle, King Sobieski stated in a leter to his wife: "Ours are treasures unheard of ... tents, sheep, cattle and no small number of camels ... it is victory as nobody ever knew of, the enemy now completely ruined, everything lost for them. They must run for their sheer lives ... Commander Starhemberg hugged and kissed me and called me his savior." This quote also shows how reveared Sobieski was for his Christian victory against the heathen Ottoman Turks.
The Habsburg dynasty post Battle of Vienna and close to the end of Prince Eugene of Savoy's conqeust against the Ottomans in the Balkans.
Turning point:War of Austrian Succession 1740-1748
The war began due to the fact that Maria Theresa, daughter of Austrian king and Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI who ruled from 1711 to 1740, wasn't able to succeed the Habsburg thrown due to Salic law which prevented royal inheritance by a woman. However, Prussia and France presented the Salic law in an attempted to challenge the Habsburg dynasty, and then became allied with the electorate of Bavaria. Austria allined itself with Great Britian and the Dutch republic as an addition to the kingdom of Sardinia and Saxony.In 1713 the house of Habsburg created the Pragmatic Sanction which was a legal attempt to assure that Maria Theresa would inherit the Austrian thrown. Then in 1740 Fredick II challenged the Pragmatic Sanction by invading Silesia, now in modern day Poland. The war ended with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, Maria Theresa survived the war and succeeded the thrown to the Hubsburg monarchy, while Austria sacrificed the territory of Silesia to Prussia.
Leopold I
Maria Theresa